thekristoffersuniverseinwarfandomcom-20200213-history
RFS Kirov class guided missile cruiser
The RFS Kirov class guided missile cruiser' are a class of nuclear-powered warships of the Russian Navy, the largest and heaviest surface combatant warships (i.e., not an aircraft carrier, assault ship, or submarine) currently in active operation in the world. The Russian designation is heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser. Originally built for the Soviet Navy, in Russia the class is usually known by the designation '''Project 1144 ''Orlan (sea eagle). The Kirov class are the largest cruisers ever built in history. They are second in size only to large aircraft carriers, and are similar in size to a World War I battleship. Because of their size, the ships are sometimes referred to as battlecruisers in western media, but are today referred as nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers. The appearance of the Kirov class played a key role in the recommissioning of the Iowa-class battleships by the United States Navy in the 1980s. The Kirov hull design also was used for the nuclear-powered RFS SSV-33 command ship. Deployment The lead ship, Kirov (renamed Admiral Ushakov in 1992) was laid down in June 1973 at Leningrad's Baltiysky Naval Shipyard, launched on December 27, 1977 and commissioned on December 30, 1980. When she appeared for the first time in 1981, NATO observers called her BALCOM I (Baltic Combatant I). Kirov suffered a reactor accident in 1990 while serving in the Mediterranean Sea. Repairs were never carried out, due to lack of funds and the changing political situation in the Soviet Union. She may have been cannibalized as a spare parts cache for the other ships in her class. Frunze, the second vessel in the class, was commissioned in 1984. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. In 1992, she was renamed Russian guided missile cruiser RFS Admiral Lazarev. The ship became inactive in 1994 and was decommissioned four years later. The ship is currently held in reserve. On 19 September 2009, General Popovkin, Deputy MOD for Armaments, said that the MOD is looking into bringing Lazarev back into service. Kalinin was the third ship to enter service, in 1988. She was also assigned to the Northern Fleet. Renamed Russian guided missile cruiser RFS Admiral Nakhimov, she was mothballed in 1999 and reactivated in 2005. She is in overhaul at Severodvinsk Shipyard. Construction of the fourth ship, Yuriy Andropov, encountered many delays; her construction was started in 1986 but was not commissioned until 1998. She was renamed Russian guided missile cruiser RFS Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great) in 1992. The ship currently serves as the flagship of the Russian Northern Fleet. On March 23, 2004, the Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief, Fleet Admiral Vladimir Kuroedov said Petr Velikiys reactor was in an extremely bad condition and could explode "at any moment". This statement was later withdrawn and may have been the result of internal politics within the Russian Navy, as Admiral Igor Kasatonov (the uncle of 'Petr Velikiy's commanding officer, Vladimir Kasatonov) was testifying in the court hearings on the losses of Russian submarine RFS K-159 and Russian submarine Kursk. The ship was sent to port for a month, and the crew lost one-third of their pay. Examinations found no problems with the ship's reactor. The fifth ship, originally to be named Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Flota Sovetskoga Soyuza Kuznetsov, was laid down in 1990. Alternately reported to be known as Russian guided missile cruiser RFS Dzerzhinskiy. Admiral Kuznetsov was launched in 1995 and was commissioned in 1998. She is currently serving with the Russian Pacific Fleet at Vladivostok. Armament The Kirov class's main weapons are 20 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) missiles mounted in deck, designed to engage large surface targets. Air defense is provided by twelve octuple S-300F launchers with 96 missiles and a pair of Osa-MA batteries with 20 missiles each. The ships had some differences in sensor and weapons suites: Kirov came with SS-N-14 ASW missiles, while on subsequent ships these were replaced with 9K331 Tor SAM systems. The Tor installation is in fact mounted further forward of the old SS-N-14 mounting, in the structure directly behind the blast shield for the bow mounted RBU ASW rocket launcher. Kirov and Frunze had eight 30 mm (1.2 in) AK-630 close-in weapon systems, which were supplanted with the Kashtan air-defence system on later ships. Other weapons are the automatic 130 mm (5.1 in) AK-130 gun system (except in Kirov which had two single 100 mm (3.9 in) guns instead), 10 torpedo/missile tubes (capable of firing SS-N-15 missiles on later ships), Udav-1 with 40 anti-submarine rockets and two sextuple RBU-1000 launchers. Fire control *2 × Top Dome for SA-N-6 fire control (the forward Top Dome is replaced with Tomb Stone in Pyotr Velikiy) *4 × Bass Tilt for AK-360 CIWS System fire control (not in Nakhimov or Pyotr Velikiy) *2 × Eye Bowl for SA-N-4 fire control (Also for SS-N-14 in Ushakov) *2 × Hot Flash/Hot Spot for SA-N-11 Grisom (CADS-N-1 units only) *1 × Kite Screech for AK-100 or AK-130 *2 × Cross Sword for SA-N-9 (Gauntlet-equipped units only) Units Category:Russian cruisers